First Win & First Cuts Make Room for New Players
That’s one game down and 22 games to go for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
That’s what separates the Riders from their unspoken goal of making history and repeating as Grey Cup Champions following Saturday’s 21-17 win over the Ottawa Redblacks.
That game was a bit of an anomaly as it was actually Ottawa’s home game, not included on the Rider season ticket package. With money going to Ottawa, and with prices at $70 to $50 a seat, at least prior to discounts, who the hell was going to drive in to Regina from Prince Albert in lousy weather to see an exhibition game just to boo Henry Burris again?
The interesting thing about the game was talk about attendance which was 13K, although that may have been tickets sold, not actual attendees. There were some Rider fans, and that is a generous term, that were upset that such attendance showed a lack of respect for the team whose last appearance was the Grey Cup win over Hamilton on that turf. Uh, I went through 2-14 seasons under Ron Lancaster, 3-15 under Cal Murphy, 11 friggin’ years out of the playoffs as a season ticket holder. If I’m in Ottawa, I would be more than happy to buy a ticket to a Redblacks game, but in Regina, my money goes to the Riders.